


Just In Case You Didn't Know

by thesassmaster



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Emotions, Feelings, Fluff, Getting Together, I miss Jungwoo, Jaehyun is everything, Kim Jungwoo (NCT) is Whipped, Love Letters, M/M, Romance, Self-Worth Issues, for jaehyun, jaehyun needs a hug, like fight me, sort of hurt comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:55:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21637711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesassmaster/pseuds/thesassmaster
Summary: Jaehyun has been receiving some discouraging input from fans which the boys pick up on. One boy takes it a step further, leaving him little notes to make sure he knows he's loved and appreciated and talented. His pesky roommate makes it his mission to find his secret admirer and set them up. Feelings ensue.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Jungwoo, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 202





	Just In Case You Didn't Know

**Author's Note:**

> So here's a thing I wrote to try and inspire myself to write my Jaewoo abo story, if you're reading that please be patient, I'm really trying and I'm sorry for the big breaks between updates, it's just hard!  
> Ok, pity party over.  
> This was born from my love for Jae and some stuff I saw/read about him being like this sex symbol. And yes ok he's gorgeous but he's so much more than that too? I love him a lot and Jaewoo's my ship so here we go. 
> 
> Does anyone else miss Jungwoo? Is anyone getting a little worried over how long he's been gone? I freaking miss him man...and it's been so long it's sort of making me feel like I missed an update about him, saying he was out, as if 2019 could get worse for us fans! Anyway, I'll stay here concocting my worse case scenarios and you guys can read! Enjoy and let me know what you thought! xxx

Jaehyun felt like he’d gotten pretty good at filtering the good and bad when it came to dealing with fans. He knew some of them only liked them for their looks, some people thought of them like objects and not people. It was a fact of their life, one he was aware of and tried not to take to heart.

_Tried._

That wasn’t always easy to do. Especially when he would do lives by himself, there wasn’t anyone else around the distract from the comments or change the subject, it was just him. Just Jaehyun left sitting there stunned as majority of the fans could only talk about his abs or his looks. That’s what he was to them.

A body and a face. Not a person. Not a singer or a dancer or a talented boy who was living his dream every single day. Not someone who could be taken down so easily by their shallow comments, not someone with feelings that could be hurt. They were hurt. It was hard to sit there and see that he didn’t matter for anything more than eye candy. He’d worked so hard for so long and they didn’t care. It just sucked.

And it made him feel really bad. Which was something the boys picked up on easily. Or maybe they’d watched and had seen what upset him.

When he’d returned to the dorm after his solo live, instantly Johnny, Doyoung and Taeyong were there, Jungwoo hovering in the doorway to the kitchen like he wanted to say something but knew to let his best friends take care of him, gauge how he was feeling first.

“You alright,” Johnny asked, opening his arms to hug him if he wanted.

He couldn’t think of anything to say; didn’t know how to voice what he was feeling about the people who’d given them all their success. He didn’t want to feel badly about them. Maybe if he didn’t say it, it’d go away.

But the boys weren’t going away. The four of them stood there waiting.

“I’m fine,”

Taeyong nodded but Doyoung didn’t look convinced.

“Really,” he said, shuffling past them, giving Jungwoo a tired smile when he got closer so he wouldn’t worry. He wasn’t sure that he was very effective in convincing them especially since he locked himself in his room, headphones in for the rest of the day and didn’t come down for dinner when they called.

xxx

It didn’t stop there though.

It became a theme, if Jaehyun was on camera or in the room, comments would flood in about his body and his abs, only proving to him that that’s what he was good for to them. That’s all he was. He wanted to scream that he was more, he worked hard for his body yes, but he’d worked hard for his spot in 127 too, worked to be a lead vocal, worked to be a better dancer, worked to be an MC, worked to be a good person that people could love easily. Maybe he was doing it wrong.

Instead of screaming though, he went quiet. Smiled at the camera after what seemed like hundreds of comments flooded in about not making them wait so long to see his abs again and sat back in his seat. The grain of his jeans was very interesting, and his coffee was pretty good, so he focused on those things instead. His quiet didn’t go unnoticed by the boys as Yuta patted his leg, hand staying there for a few moments after and Mark reached over to squeeze the back of his neck quickly before retreating again, his laughter a little forced, at whatever Johnny had said to break the tension.

They went on without him because they were all professional. Jaehyun included. Okay, maybe he didn’t have anything to say but he hadn’t jumped up and stormed, away had he? No! And he hadn’t started crying on the spot which was huge for him because he really felt like he might. This frustrated, overwhelming sadness kept surging inside him, making his throat hurt the longer they sat there.

He blinked a few times while his attention stayed on his lap, willing himself not to cry before looking up. The others were doing a good job of keeping the attention as far from him as possible, except Jungwoo who was quiet too, on the other side of their semi-circle. He perked up when he saw Jaehyun looking back at him, gave him a small, supportive smile. In his lap his hand lifted to send him a finger heart which made Jaehyun laugh a little, sending him one back to ease his very visible worry and to hopefully encourage him to participate in the rest of their live without paying too much attention to him.

He did, after a few more moments of watching him, sat forward with his hands tucked under his legs to answer Johnny’s rapid-fire questions with easy laughter, let Doyoung tease him about something Jaehyun wasn’t listening to.

He just needed this to be over. It was so hard to sit here and listen to the others interact while knowing what so many of the fans he’d worked himself to the bone for, thought of him.

It cut him to his core, being seen as nothing more than a body, or an object for people to drool over and objectify at their will. To them he wasn’t a good voice or a halfway decent range, he wasn’t kind or considerate, he didn’t have interests or hobbies, he was just a handsome face attached to the body he’d taken good care of for many years. He was proud of it and it didn’t bother him so much before when it was mentioned but now it seemed to be the only thing people noticed about him.

They commented on everyone else endlessly, seeming interested in Johnny’s interest in making videos and Doyoung’s talents outside of singing and dancing. They were endlessly supportive of Taeyong and anything he dedicated a single second of his time to and Mark was everyone’s golden boy, he was perfect and good, and every fan made sure to let him know frequently. Donghyuck was the baby with the melodic perfect voice and wonderful laugh. Yuta loved anime and manga and was silly, always making people laugh. Jungwoo was precious, shy sometimes but adorably endearing and goofy once he was comfortable. And people just unanimously loved Taeil. If he spoke, they squealed in the comments. If he laughed, they adored him more, eagerly laughing with him. If he was annoyed, they ganged up on whomever ticked him off. They supported his interests and didn’t bother him if he’d decided to lay low.

Jaehyun wondered why that luxury of being loved for just being himself wasn’t afforded to him. Why was it not enough? He had to upload a boyfriend vibe video or picture to even hope for a response from fans. Which was discouraging to say the very least.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the live ended and the boys were all over their mission to make him feel better. They suggested going out for barbeque, which got his interest and made his stomach growl.

He loved them so much and it wasn’t their fault the fans thought of him one way instead of another. They were the people who knew he was multi-dimensional and not just negative space. They cheered when he agreed, Taeyong rubbing their heads together with a noise that sounded exactly like Jaehyun felt. Distraught.

He wrapped his arm around Mark’s shoulders when he grinned, all of them silently offering him comfort for the hurt he couldn’t express. Them just being there -- rallying even though he hadn’t asked, ordering enough food to feed a small village, Taeil making soda come out of Donghyuck’s nose as he laughed, Jungwoo sitting so close to him, he could feel him radiating warmth through their shirts -- it was enough.

After that, the notes started appearing. Randomly.

He found one on his desk one day after practice that said, _just in case you didn’t know, you’re an amazing dancer <3_

It was written, in perfect handwriting that he didn’t quite recognize, like someone had been careful to mask it, on a pale purple sticky note, stuck to the top of his laptop. Deliberately so it couldn’t be missed when he came home and went to sit at his computer for a while. He brushed his finger over it again and again like he wasn’t sure he was really seeing it. Wanting to make sure he’d read it right.

It made him smile, instantly, brightly to himself while his throat felt warm. It kept him in a good mood for the rest of the day, into the night where he shuffled into the kitchen to help Doyoung and their auntie make dinner. She brushed his hair away from his eyes and thanked him as he took over making ramen for everyone. Doyoung just smiled at him. He wondered if he’d left the note, it seemed like something he’d do, not always willing to outwardly admit things to people, guarded with his emotions most times. He decided, even though that was true, it wasn’t like him to leave someone a note like that at all. It didn’t much matter, it was left anonymously for a reason. He wasn’t supposed to know, it was just supposed to brighten his day, reassure him. He grinned as he added the noodles to the water, it definitely did the trick.

The next one came before they were set to host another vlive, all of them showering and rushing to change into their desired styles before they had to go down to the practice room. He’d showered faster than usual and hurried to his room, annoyed that he’d been the last one and was therefore pressed for time. And more annoyed still that they were going to do a vlive, the last one didn’t leave the best taste in his mouth honestly, but he could be professional, let the others fill the silence for him since nobody cared what he had to say anyway. His bedroom door was closed, which he found odd because he hadn’t closed it and he knew Donghyuck was already in the living room, ready before everyone else. His questioning about why and who and when stopped instantly seeing the pale purple sticky note attached to the door.

A smile pulled at his face immediately, before he’d even read what it had to say.

_Just in case you didn’t know, I’ll always listen, even if nobody else will <3_

His heart thumped aggressively. How did they know that he’d been stewing over that for the past couple days leading up to this? Was it Donghyuck, leaving him the notes? He was his roommate, he knew his ticks and what was bugging him usually before everyone else because they shared the same space. But Donghyuck would just say things to his face, yell about his love and support before going red and rushing away. So, he ruled him out. Blushing a little at the blatant, adoring way his anonymous note leaver had put it, _I’ll always listen_. Damn, why did that hit him so hard? It felt good though, knowing someone in their team just wanted to make sure he wasn’t forgotten, that he was thought of and cared about, even when some of their fans made him feel the opposite.

He didn’t realize he was still stood, bare face hanging out in the hallway, staring at his closed door till Johnny strolled by, swatting his butt and laughing that he needed to hurry up. Jaehyun rolled his eyes but opened his door, careful of the note in his hand as he put it with the other in the top drawer of his desk.

Dressed, he rushed back to the bathroom to dry his hair and put on some Chapstick when Jungwoo popped his head in.

“Hey,” he smiled, eyes bright but a little puffy from sleep.

He grinned back, side-stepping a little in case he needed the mirror too. Jungwoo took up the space next to him, dug in his bin under the counter for his lotion and lip balm, washing his hands before he layered lotion on his face and hands, returning Jaehyun’s smile through the mirror.

“Why do vlive’s make me so nervous?” Jungwoo asked.

He switched the hairdryer off, putting it back on its hook as he reached for his hairbrush, “don’t know, they’re just stressful,”

“Do you get nervous for them?”

“Sometimes,” instantly fond for his younger friend, who wore his heart, stress and weariness on his sleeve, not that he could help it. It was just how he was. “I mean, they’re not my favorite thing but I guess the good thing is we have 7 other people who can talk when we don’t want to,”

Jungwoo looked frozen before he nodded, ducking to put his lotion back under the counter, slowly uncapping his lip balm. “I just feel like I should be used to them,”

“Yeah, me too, I mean I even did the DJ thing for a while, some nerves don’t leave you I guess,”

Jungwoo hummed as he methodically applied his Chapstick, slowly, in a move Jaehyun caught himself watching.

“Hey,” Yuta’s chipper voice called out before he peeked around the door, “they’re getting us coffee, do you two want anything,”

“Ooh,” Jungwoo’s momentary stress vanished, giving way to the sparkly eyes and lifted cheeks Jaehyun was used to, “can I have that caramel thing, Doie hyung knows,”

“Do you want whipped cream?” Yuta tipped his head with his question, smirking like Jungwoo amused him.

Jungwoo pouted as he thought, crouching to put his Chapstick back in his basket, “uh no…wait, yeah no,”

Yuta laughed, looking at Jaehyun for his order, “cold brew, one sugar,”

“Creature of habit,” Yuta said with a roll of his eyes as he twirled out of the doorway. Jaehyun, offended, squawked a little.

“Jungwoo’s getting the same thing he always gets,” laughing when Jungwoo stuck his tongue out at him.

“Wrong, I usually get it with whipped cream and caramel on top,”

“Oh, silly me,” he put his hands on his shoulders, wrestling him out of the bathroom with a few gentle pushes, guided him to the living room where the others were waiting to go.

“Jungwoo!” Yuta yelled, spinning, “oh, you’re right there, do you still want caramel drizzle,”

Jaehyun smirked watching the younger boy suck his bottom lip into his mouth.

“Yes please,” he muttered, color sat high on his ears while Jaehyun laughed at him. He swatted him but wrapped his arm around his waist as Jaehyun pulled him close, all of them leaving out the front door for the practice room. Stress gripped him momentarily on the way down in the elevator, but he had Jungwoo giggling beside him at whatever Johnny was saying, talking loudly over Mark. Taeyong was trying to shush them even as Haechan and Taeil’s loud laughter drowned him out. Doyoung was muttering something as he rolled his eyes, patting Yuta’s head as it landed on his shoulder, they were there. It wouldn’t be that bad. Even if he talked mindlessly about things he didn’t want to talk about, he’d gotten good at smiling even when he didn’t want to. And now at least he knew there was someone who’d always listen, no matter what he wanted to talk about. He’d save it for them, for the boys.

xxx

More notes followed.

One before recording for the new album that said, _just in case you didn’t know, your voice is my favorite <3_

One on the mirror on the back of their door that said, _just in case you didn’t know, you’re so much more than a pretty face <3, _and another right under it that said, _your dimples are really cute though:)_

One on his backpack after _practice, just in case you didn’t know, you could have done anything but I’m glad you’re here with us instead <3_

Another snuck into his room on his way back from the bathroom, heading to bed, _just in case you didn’t know, I had a really bad day, but you made it better <3_

This was starting to get real.

But Jaehyun, whether he was enjoying the attention or the encouragements, found himself looking forward to the notes and whatever they had to say. No matter how real or heavy or invested they gave the other way to being. Jaehyun was equally invested in receiving the notes as their sender was to leaving them and making him smile.

 _Just in case you didn’t know, it’s a pity that some people might never get to see your smile. Guess I’m just lucky like that <3\. _He laughed at the note, putting it safely with the others and wondered if he’d looked particularly sad today or maybe the opposite, and they just wanted to make sure it was best if he was happy.

 _Just in case you didn’t know, you looked really nice today <3…_really _?_ He’d only worn jeans and a shirt.

 _Just in case you didn’t know, I liked the movie you picked tonight <3, _left for him after movie night where majority of the boys hassled him about his pick. It had left him feeling small and silly, but the note definitely made it better.

 _Just in case you didn’t know, 8 hours is the ideal amount of sleep, rest well <3\. _After a particularly long day, it settled the nerves and stress rattling around inside him, allowed him to curl up in his bed with a relaxed sort of feeling taking over instead.

They brightened his day no matter what it’d been like and improved his mood, even if it wasn’t bad to begin with.

He’d find them on the doors of his closet, on his nightstand, stuck to his phone when he forgot it in the bathroom or charging in the kitchen. But the favorite place seemed to be his desk, because he always checked there, went on his computer every day at some point so he always found them.

His favorite note so far was the one he found, before dinner one night, on a completely mundane day.

_Just in case you didn’t know, you fit the aesthetic. You’d make a really good boyfriend <3._

His heart thundered in his ears, stomach clenching. One of the boys…thought he’d make a good boyfriend? Did they want to…be his boyfriend? Whoa. That was something.

Sure, they’d been leaving him little love notes, he wasn’t blind to that and he loved them a lot but reading someone’s supportive little messages and being confronted with the idea of what it meant, what it _really_ meant was a lot. He’d sort of been avoiding thinking about the hidden meanings behind all this. Not because the idea of dating someone, another boy, turned him off. But they were a team. If things didn’t work out what would become of them?

His head started spinning, tried to push down the feelings swirling around inside him relentlessly, it didn’t matter. Whomever was leaving the notes was just trying to boost his mood and make him feel better. That’s all. If it were serious and they wanted something more from him, they’d say something. They’d have to.

But who could it be?

He shook his head. He wasn’t going to think about it. It would drive him crazy and make him act different towards each and every one of them.

That’s how Donghyuck found him. Shaking his head, muttering to himself over his love note.

“Hyung?!” he shouted, making him jump a little.

“What,”

“Are you okay? I’ve been saying your name for like a minute,”

He nodded, feeling sweaty. He wasn’t doing great at not thinking about this.

“What’s that?” Donghyuck asked next, stepping forward to try and take the sticky note out of his hand.

“Nothing,” he said too quickly, ripping his hand away to hide it behind his back.

“Ooh is it a love letter,” he trilled, joking.

Jaehyun didn’t say anything, paling.

“Wait, really? Can I see?”

“It’s not you,” he said dumbly, for confirmation and reassurance.

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at him, even as grown up as he’d seemed recently, that was still the sassy teenager he’d roomed with for years staring back at him.

“Why would I be asking to see my own love letter? Hyung, really, give me some more credit, I’m smoother than that,” that left him dumbfounded enough that he let his arm hang allowing Donghyuck to snatch the note out of his hand. He watched Donghyuck’s eyebrows climb higher, smile settling on his face.

“Never mind, whoever wrote this is smooth as hell, damn,”

Which is how Jaehyun unknowingly, unwillingly ended up with a partner in the investigation regarding the person leaving him these notes. Did he mention he didn’t ask for this, because he didn’t…ask for it. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to know who it was either. He just sort of wanted to not think about the pressure of this thing, curl up in his bed and laugh. Because someone was writing him love letters. But he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about it.

xxx

It turned out Donghyuck took this whole thing very seriously.

So seriously that he’d taken it upon himself to include someone else in his plots without first telling Jaehyun about it.

Oh, and name it, because all good plans need to have a name.

xxx

“Operation: find Jaehyun hyung’s secret admirer and take smoothness lessons because damn, starts now,”

“Are we really calling it that?”

“Yes,” Donghyuck said, crossing his arms.

“And Johnny’s here, why,” he moved his gaze to look at the older boy lounging on Donghyuck’s bed, comfortable, at ease, included.

“Because it’s not him and it’s not me, we’re your allies in this,”

“How do you know it’s not him,”

Johnny raised his hand, clearly annoyed that they were talking about him like he wasn’t there.

“Because I told him it wasn’t?”

Donghyuck and Jaehyun shared a look.

“Oh, for the- Jaehyun, it’s not me, okay, I’d admit it if you’d found out,”

Donghyuck nodded, waiting for Jaehyun to agree with that, when he did, he dove in.

“Okay, so do you have any ideas about who it could be?”

Jaehyun sighed, “no, I’d sort of been trying not to think about it,”

“Why?” Johnny asked, looking crestfallen. Donghyuck adopted the same look, moving to sit beside Johnny on the bed.

“Because, if they wanted me to know, they’d tell me and it doesn’t make sense for me to freak out and try to find out who it is, right?”

“Okay, so they’re shy, which is why they’ve done this,” Donghyuck drummed his fingers on his chin, going the opposite way with his reasoning than he meant him to, “which rules out Yuta hyung because he’s definitely not shy about showing interest in someone…also I think he and Sicheng hyung are trying again, now that he’s back in the country,”

Jaehyun agreed with that. Not quite believing that he was buying into the theorizing but smiling at Donghyuck’s genuine interest in this anyway.

“I think that they just wanted to make me feel better,”

Johnny grinned at him, asked to see the other notes, which Donghyuck took upon himself to gather and show him.

Johnny awed and smiled at all of them, looking for all the world, endeared by them.

“I agree with that Jae, but they are definitely interested in you,”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, he felt like he knew that already. The last couple notes had made that sort of obvious.

“So how are you going to find out who it is? Investigate everyone, stalk them to see when they leave notes?” He asked, wondering how far Donghyuck was going to go with this.

“Ask them?” Johnny offered.

“But. They’re. Shy.” Donghyuck explained like they were stupid, “they’re not going to just tell us,”

Johnny ducked his head as he laughed, “so who’s left, Taeyong, Taeil hyung, Doyoung, Mark and Jungwoo,” he ticked them off on his fingers.

“I doubt it’s Taeil hyung,” Donghyuck decided.

“Why do you doubt that?”

“Because he…” Donghyuck sucked in a breath and closed his mouth so it puffed out his cheeks, “never mind,”

Johnny looked intrigued, giving Jaehyun a goofy look. “No, no, no never mind, what?”

“He told me that he likes someone, and I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that…it’s not you Jae hyung, sorry,”

“Don’t be,” not willing to admit that he was a little relieved about that. He loved his hyung but definitely not like that.

“Okay, secrets don’t make friends Hyuck but that’s fine, so Taeyong, Doyoung, Jungwoo and Mark, that’s manageable,”

Jaehyun groaned, flopping face first onto his bed.

“What’s wrong lover boy?”

“I just…even if we find out, I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing. What are we going to do? Date? And what if we screw it up? We’ll never talk again and wreck 127, that sounds great!”

“Alternatively, you could date, and it could be fine, there’s no use worrying about worst cases before anything’s even happened,”

Donghyuck nodded his agreement.

Jaehyun wasn’t getting anywhere with them.

“But let’s think about this Jae, of the four left, would you want to date any of them?”

He rolled to face them, seeing they’d rearranged on Donghyuck’s bed to sit on the other side to see him.

Taeyong had always made his insides warm up pleasantly. They were so comfortable with each other, kindred spirits Ten had called them once wistfully but he wasn’t sure if it was more than that. Everyone was attracted to him, at least a little but didn’t think he’d date him.

Doyoung was so important to him, a partner in crime, the flip side of his coin. In music they blended perfectly but he’d never thought of him in any other way. Especially since he was so adamant that nobody thinks about him like that, sexualize him since they didn’t know him. He knew the warning didn’t apply to him, but he’d taken it to heart, respected him too much to ever let anything besides platonic love grow between them.

Mark, though adorable and so ridiculously talented it made his head spin, he was like his little brother. He could say for sure he wouldn’t date him.

And Jungwoo…had always made something inside him tick a little louder. He stirred instincts he didn’t know he had. When he joined NCT and cried before their Boss stage, Jaehyun vowed to look after him. Make him smile more so he couldn’t let his stress overwhelm him. And then he’d joined 127 too and Jaehyun got to see him more, bought him dinner, shared ice cream with him because they liked the same flavors, laughed when a scary movie made him stand up and pace around, staying on the couch with him when he couldn’t sleep afterward. He was sweet and genuine and silly in an untouched by the world sort of way, he hoped he never lost that. That nobody ever stole the stars out of his eyes. He was so talented too, pushing himself to be where they were dancing and vocally because he didn’t want to hold anyone back. He learned all their dances and all their songs like he’d been there from day one with them.

And it didn’t hurt that he was adorable.

Oh.

Maybe there had been a good reason he refused to think about these things. They were stirring up emotions he wasn’t sure he knew how to deal with.

He cleared his throat.

“Maybe,”

“Maybe,” Johnny hummed, “who?”

“I don’t think that matters since we don’t who’s been writing the notes anyway,”

“Touchy,” Donghyuck whispered.

He was a little, but he didn’t know how to approach the idea of dating any of them or of having feelings for Jungwoo that he was literally just realizing were there at all. If Jungwoo had been leaving the letters, oh jeez, what would he do? If he wasn’t leaving the letters, what would he do?

“Well since you’re not totally against the idea, how do we want to find out who it is,” Johnny asked next.

“I say we rig cameras-” Donghyuck started before Johnny pushed him over.

“-I say we just hang out, pay extra attention, now that three of us are aware it’s happening, we might see something,”

“I haven’t seen anything though and it’s been happening for weeks,”

“But you’ve sort of taken the willfully blind approach on this whole thing, you like the letters but you haven’t wanted to know who it was anyway so…you don’t count,” Donghyuck said, struggling to sit up.

Jaehyun grumbled, “my love letters,” which made Johnny laugh.

Donghyuck opened his mouth to say something else when someone knocked on their door. They all froze, worried whoever on the other side had heard or had been there listening.

Jaehyun froze further, blood going cold before heating up again, when Jungwoo peeked his head around the door, smiling when he saw all of them there. He wasn’t flushed and he didn’t look embarrassed, so he probably hadn’t heard anything.

“Hi, we’re ordering dinner from the noodle place down the street,”

Johnny spun around, messing up Donghyuck’s blanket which earned him a swat.

“Yuta hyung said, put your order in or forever eat whatever’s left in the fridge that Mark hasn’t scarfed down,”

Behind him Yuta could be heard cheering, “very nice relaying Woo-ah,”

Jungwoo laughed when Yuta stepped into the room around him, “but in all seriousness, we’re hungry and the three of you have been holed up in here for like an hour and you’re not answering our texts so come decide what you want or I really think Mark might riot,”

Johnny and Donghyuck laughed as they got up to clamor out of the room after Yuta while Jungwoo waited to follow at a slower pace.

“Do you want to share some fried chicken hyung,” he asked quietly as Jaehyun composed himself enough to join him.

He nodded, not trusting himself to make words or sounds that were even remotely intelligent when Jungwoo was looking at him like that, soft in a gray track set that was a little big on him.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded again but Jungwoo didn’t like that he wasn’t talking because he scrunched his eyebrows, watched him closely.

“Just tired,” he croaked.

“Fried chicken will make you sleepy,” Jungwoo smiled.

He couldn’t fight the smile that took over his own face, dimples carving into his cheeks automatically.

“That’s the plan,”

Jungwoo giggled all the way into the living room where the others were piled arguing over how many orders of pork belly to get and who wanted soda? He wondered if it was written plain all over his face that he was having a hard time breathing. He figured no but then again Johnny smirked the whole entire time they were eating, Jaehyun trying his hardest to maintain normal, casual conversation with Jungwoo over their order of chicken. While also trying his hardest not to hyperventilate.

xxx

The problem with thinking it was Jungwoo, aside from having no proof to back it up, was he was starting to have ideas. And those weren’t the kind of ideas he wanted to be having while he was still receiving notes from someone who might not be Jungwoo. He was developing feelings. And he definitely didn’t know what he was going to do if it turned out to be Mark or Doyoung or Taeyong leaving the notes.

Donghyuck however was invested and enjoying himself, anytime he saw a note either on Jaehyun’s desk or in his hand, he ripped it away from him to examine it for himself. He’d noticed too that it wasn’t anyone’s handwriting, they’d done a good job making sure Jaehyun couldn’t figure out who’d left him the messages. Which only made him feel worse about trying to find out who it was.

Donghyuck didn’t understand it but Jaehyun liked them. They were nice and innocent and made him feel good, he didn’t want to rock the boat and make them stop. Donghyuck, goal-oriented as always, wanted to see this through and get him a boyfriend. Jaehyun, just liked knowing somebody thought of him, worried when he was quiet, liked seeing him smile, wanted to make sure he was always in the best place possible. He didn’t think it was wrong of him to want to hang onto that nice, warm feeling it brought him for a while longer.

As he’d found, his partner in crime was very rarely on the same page as him.

xxx

“Johnny hyung! Hyung! Operation: find Jaehyun hyung’s secret admirer and take smoothness lessons because damn, commences, no sightings yet but we have more notes to show you,” he yelled as he barreled into Johnny’s room. The older who had been on his phone, sat bolt upright in bed. His eyes bugged which would’ve been funny had it just been the three of them in the room. Divulging secrets and making stupid plans about love notes.

Johnny and Donghyuck paled, twisting to look at Taeyong, who was on his own bed reading a book, then at Jaehyun who was rolling his eyes at them. They were easily the least sneaky spies ever.

“What are you up to now Hyuck,” Taeyong asked with a smile, not looking up from his book.

“Nothing,”

He hummed, “okay, and what’s operation: find Jaehyun hyung’s secret admirer, exactly,”

“And take smoothness lessons because damn,” he muttered, disgruntled about the last bit being omitted. Jaehyun swatted the back of his head.

“What’s that,”

The all shared a look. Jaehyun shook his head at them, not interested in yet another person knowing about all this. It was steadily becoming something they all obsessed over and not something for Jaehyun and his admirer alone. It was basically they were writing notes for him and two other people now, three if they told Taeyong.

Donghyuck, ever the meddler, said, “maybe you already know,”

Taeyong raised his eyebrows at him, unsure what sort game they were playing right now.

“I don’t think I know,” Taeyong said, looking genuinely confused while Donghyuck scrutinized him.

“Can I see it,” Johnny asked, impatient with their shenanigans.

“This is the last one,” Donghyuck held out the most recent note, Jaehyun not quick enough to take it back from him. They were for him and he didn’t like betraying this thing with whomever it was because it was theirs. And this note especially, felt like it should belong just to him. Donghyuck whipped around when Jaehyun grabbed for him, looking put out that someone dare touch him.

“Hyuck, give it,”

“Why, it’s just the hyungs,”

Jaehyun hung his head as Donghyuck stuck the note to Johnny’s outstretched hand.

A smile like he’d never seen stretched over his face. The note, his most favorite one to date read, ‘ _just in case you didn’t know, you make my heart beat faster <3_’

Johnny swallowed, cheeks pink, “aww,”

Donghyuck squealed, “I know right,”

“Can I have it back please,” on the verge of begging while Taeyong watched him with a fond look.

Donghyuck, always more aware of things then he let on asked, “Taeyong would like to see the note that you may or may not have written him?”

“Why would you just ask him that?” Johnny asked, looking supremely annoyed with Donghyuck’s skills as a snoop and doubting his role as partner in crime.

“Because I don’t think it’s him…I was trying to bait him,” he defended himself.

“It wasn’t me,” Taeyong shifted, sat up to look at them. Seeming appropriately baited, “How long has this been going on Jae?”

He sighed, shuffled to sit next to him on his bed, “about a month, maybe a little more,”

“So,” Donghyuck butted back in, “if it’s not Taeyong hyung, I was rooting for you a little hyung but that’s fine, there’s Mark, Jungwoo and Doyoung hyung left,”

Jaehyun sat forward, he knew he wanted it to be and debated what he’d do if it was Mark or Doyoung. He couldn’t even think about that, he didn’t have any idea how he’d deal with it.

“It’s not Doyoung,” Taeyong said simply.

Johnny, Donghyuck and him shared a brief look while he felt nothing but relief at that.

“How do you know?”

His cheeks went red as his hand swept over the back of his neck, expression saying way more than he looked willing to out loud.

“No way,” Johnny said shocked but looking really thrilled, “when did this happen?”

“Well, it’s been happening casually for like 6 months but officially, just a few weeks,” he looked so embarrassed but also happier than Jaehyun could remember him being for a long time.

“Hyung, congratulations,” Donghyuck hopped up.

“Don’t say anything yet, we were sort of waiting to tell you guys,”

Johnny nodded to show he was good with that while Donghyuck looked back to Jaehyun.

“So, Mark or Jungwoo,” he rubbed his hands together, “I must say this was much easier than I thought it was going to be,”

“You didn’t even do anything,” Johnny laughed at him.

“I call bullshit on that Suh,”

“Donghyuck,” Taeyong scolded tiredly.

“Sorry,” he murmured, “I call, crap, that’s crap, I did a lot,”

“Like what?”

“Like get him interested enough to question all this,”

“I liked the letters, I didn’t need to dissect it,”

“Sure, sure but we’re talking about love letters Jaehyun, how could you just let that go?”

He shook his head, knowing he wouldn’t win with him. So, he let himself get lost in his head as Donghyuck weighed the pros and cons of Mark and Jungwoo. It couldn’t be Mark, it wouldn’t make sense. And he definitely didn’t seem like the type to leave him little love notes or notes of any kind after he’d had a bad day. He was more apt to ask him to go play basketball for a while, do something stupid till he felt better. He was a goof ball, but he definitely wasn’t the mushy, cut himself open to show someone he cared type.

“It’s Jungwoo,” he said. Sure, of it. And not just because he really wanted it to be, he had a feeling.

“Were you listening to my lists?” Donghyuck asked excited, blustering when Jaehyun stood up, shouldering around him. “Where are you going?”

Jaehyun was out of the room before he could hear anymore of Donghyuck’s yelling or explanations about why Mark would be a ‘10/10’ boyfriend vs why Jungwoo would be the better option.

He knocked on Jungwoo’s door, but no one answered. The light was off too so he moved on.

He found him, in the living room, giggling over whatever Taeil was showing him on his phone, the both of them had tears in their eyes, faces flushed and generally rumpled. Jungwoo, Jaehyun realized, not for the first time that week, was really pretty. Gorgeous, when he smiled, when he laughed, when he was focused, when he was practicing, when he was annoyed or trying to understand something, it didn’t matter. He was so captivating to him. And he wondered why he’d never noticed these things before. But damn was he happy that the letters were coming from him.

“Hey,” he said, making both their heads pop up, giggles slowing to occasional snickers. Taeil waved while Jaehyun asked, “Jungwoo, can I talk to you,”

The younger boy nodded, stood up to follow him, “to be continued, hyung,”

“You bet, I’ll be here,”

He dragged him to his own room, hoping Donghyuck had the foresight to stay put with Johnny and Taeyong.

Jungwoo hovered at the end of Donghyuck’s bed, waiting for him to talk. Jaehyun crossed to his desk, opened his top drawer to pull out the pile of notes he’d kept, glad he’d taken the couple back from Donghyuck to add to the top.

“These have helped a lot,” he said, smiling to himself before turning around to show Jungwoo the collection of notes in his hands. “I didn’t know that I needed to know these things or be reminded of them, but I really appreciate them and whoever left them for me,”

Jungwoo was looking right at him, not blinking but his cheeks had gone pinker. “Can I see them,” he asked, holding his hand out.

Jaehyun grinned, put the stack in his hand. He smiled as he read, lips pouting after a second.

“Did you write them,” he asked. Jungwoo remained quiet, pout intensifying.

“I thought I’d been sneaky,”

Jaehyun smiled so wide then his cheeks hurt with it, “you were, you totally were, I only just figured out for sure that it was you,”

Jungwoo nodded, “because I confirmed it,”

“Because you’re blushing,”

Jungwoo held the notes close to his chest like talking about them, face to face was too much. It reminded him of how he’d tried to keep them to himself too but only so much could be done against a nosy roommate.

“You make my heart beat faster too,” he whispered, taking a step closer to Jungwoo, waited for him to look up. He dragged him forward the instant he did to kiss him. He hadn’t thought about it much before. But the couple weeks where he’d been hoping it was Jungwoo he wondered what it’d be like to kiss him quiet, kiss him while he was laughing, kiss him to make him feel better, because he wanted to, because he could.

After Jungwoo had showed him how much he meant to him, after he’d realized he felt things, he wanted to kiss him. And he didn’t see a point in not doing so when Jungwoo was right there, telling him the notes were from him, eyes bright and cheeks pink, lips full and begging for him to do so.

Jungwoo sucked in a breath before stepping forward into him and looping his arms around his neck, kissing him back feverishly. Lips parting and moving with his so easily it was like they’d been doing this for years. His stomach warmed when Jungwoo whined and chased after him as he pulled away. Regretfully.

“I just wanted to make you feel better,”

Jaehyun nudged their noses together, “you did, you really did,”

Jungwoo’s smile was warm and infectious as his hands moved to cup his face, not looking like he had anything to say, he just seemed really happy. A little surprised but definitely happy.

“Would you maybe want to get dinner or something?”

Jungwoo nodded quickly, bottom lip caught behind his teeth. Hung onto him as Jaehyun grabbed his phone and his wallet and made for the door, Taeil didn’t even look up as they left which made Jungwoo laugh into his shoulder.

Their re-entrance wasn’t nearly as under the radar as their escape as Taeil was joined by Taeyong, Doyoung, Johnny and Donghyuck in the living room.

“So,” Donghyuck said, sitting forward eagerly.

“So what?”

“Soooo,” he drew it out frustrated, “it was Jungwoo?”

Jungwoo’s hand clenched in his, “wait…you told him?”

Jaehyun squeezed his eyes shut, wondering how his good day, his date with Jungwoo had turned into this, being grilled in the living room with Jungwoo looking upset at him.

“In my defense, you don’t know what being his roommate is like, he’s sneaky and nosy and doesn’t understand boundaries,”

“Boundaries are made to be crossed hyung, you said you didn’t mind me snooping as long as I didn’t use your computer without asking,”

Johnny nodded, a calm, faraway look in his eyes, “porn,”

“No, no not porn,” he turned to reassure Jungwoo, not wanting him to wish he’d never written him a love letter at all. “Just, you have to draw the line somewhere, right?”

Jungwoo’s smile lifted his whole face, eyes warm where they looked back at him.

Doyoung’s head was on a swivel watching all of them, “what’s going on?” He stretched as he sat up, body elongating against Taeyong’s which Jaehyun noticed made both of them smile softly.

“Did you guys go on a date?” Doyoung asked, looked torn between joy and shock.

“We did, and now we’re gonna watch a movie in my room to avoid all of you,” Jaehyun said, moving to drag Jungwoo down the hall away from their questions and their nonsense. Jungwoo’s laughter could barely be heard over Taeil’s who seemed to find Doyoung’s surprise over this particularly hilarious.

“I cannot believe--hey! Wait, I have questions!”

Jaehyun smiled over his shoulder at Jungwoo, happily trailing him towards his room, towards some quiet and his bed. Where he got to snuggle his _boyfriend_ , the concept made him giddy. It apparently made Jungwoo feel the same as he collided with him the second his door shut, mouth working over his with a laugh, tongue slipping along his own as he stumbled them to the bed where they collapsed and didn’t end up watching a movie.

xxx

Jaehyun made his way to kitchen the next morning, looking for something to eat or maybe some coffee to start his day but stopped hearing two voices and his own name being tossed around. Jungwoo and Doyoung were talking about him.

“I’m just surprised Woo,”

Jungwoo didn’t say anything.

“When you said you wished you could do something to make him feel better, I didn’t think you meant you wanted to date him,”

He listened as Jungwoo sighed, “I didn’t think you needed to know that part, I wasn’t holding my breath for anything. I never ever imagined he’d feel the same way, I just didn’t want to see him upset like that again,”

Jaehyun’s chest felt warm as he smiled to himself, hearing Jungwoo talk about him, them.

“So, at what point did being his friend morph into this,”

“I’ve liked him since U, and this wasn’t…I didn’t do this because I have feelings for him,” Jungwoo’s next noise sounded sad, “why are you grilling me?”

Doyoung sighed, “I’m not, I just want to understand okay, I don’t want you to get ahead of yourself with this, it’s not something you should hop into without thinking,”

“I have thought about it,”

“Jungwoo,”

“Just because you complicate things with Taeyong hyung doesn’t mean it’s actually complicated,” Jaehyun grinned to himself at Jungwoo’s comeback, “yeah, I know about that,”

The silence that followed was comical. Jaehyun had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“How? When?”

“Atlanta,”

“What?!”

“You were on your phone a lot the day we went out, texting someone which you don’t usually do if you’re with someone else…and you had a hickey. I didn’t know it was Taeyong at first, but I figured it out by the end of the tour, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was a little more serious than sex or keeping each other company,”

Jaehyun couldn’t be prouder hearing Jungwoo say that to him, defend himself and them and the assumptions he’d made but never said anything about.

Doyoung sounded shocked when he spoke next, “you never said anything,”

“I knew you’d say something when you wanted us to know,”

Both of them were quiet for so long that Jaehyun took a step, peeked around the corner to see them hugging in front of the stove.

“I’m sorry, for being judgmental and for not telling you about me and Yongie,”

“That’s not something you need be sorry for hyung, your relationship is yours, you don’t owe me an explanation,”

He watched Doyoung’s eyes close as he hugged Jungwoo a little tighter.

“So, you and Jae?”

“Me and Jae,”

“Good?”

“Really good,”

They both laughed while Jaehyun decided to give them a little more time together, he could go another 20 minutes without breakfast…probably.

xxx

“Will you still leave me letters Woo?”

Jungwoo rolled to face him, blanket curling under him as he went.

“Would you like me to?”

Jaehyun propped himself up on an elbow as he nudged his nose into Jungwoo’s jaw to tip him back a little.

“Yes,” he took a deep breath, felt Jungwoo’s fingers scratch through his hair gently, “I didn’t know how badly I needed them, how much I just wanted someone to tell me I was doing okay, that I was more than a six-pack with a half way decent voice,”

Jungwoo didn’t say anything right away, just looked a little sad.

“I’ll keep writing them, I don’t ever want you to forget how important you are, how special you are to me. I’ll leave you a note every day for the rest of our lives together just to be safe…okay?”

He couldn’t find his voice and wouldn’t trust it even if he had so he dropped his head forward instead. Nudged against Jungwoo’s neck to hum his acceptance of that offer and began leaving kisses wherever he could reach, encouraged by Jungwoo’s laughter and the way his hands were curled into the back of his shirt.

xxx

Anxiety over vlive’s still struck him occasionally. These days though he had a sure-fire way to combat those nerves and make him feel better. Jungwoo. And the notes he, true to his word, hadn’t stopped leaving him even after they started seeing each other.

Speaking of his boyfriend, there he was entering the practice room where they were all collected, Mark on his heels, hands flailing around with whatever he was saying. Jaehyun smiled at them and then directly at Jungwoo when his gaze landed on him. He quickly ditched Mark, who latched onto Taeil without hesitation. Jungwoo closed the space between them but didn’t curl up in the hug he was offering, instead he stood about a foot away, his arm extended to press something to his chest.

Jaehyun beamed, catching sight of the purple paper Jungwoo always left his love letters on. It was difficult tearing his eyes off Jungwoo especially when he was looking at him like that, but he also really wanted to read his note. Needed to read it actually. He needed that energy boost, the surge of confidence his letters brought him. Which Jungwoo had taken note of, never letting him wander into a vlive or an interview without a note in his back pocket.

This one, like so many others before, made his skin tingle and his chest feel warm.

_Just in case you didn’t know by now, I really, really, really, really like you <3 Dinner tonight?_

Jaehyun looked up, tugged Jungwoo close to kiss his cheek.

“I really, really, really, really like you too,”

Jungwoo’s eyes lit up, hopping on his toes to be even closer to him, hands landing on his shoulders, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he tucked their noses together gently, “dinner sounds really good,”

Jungwoo smiled, stayed comfortable in his arms till they took their seats and made small talk before the vlive started, only a little lost in each other.

This, he decided, was much, much better than stressing himself out to the point of silence. There was no _, just in case,_ about this. He definitely knew that being with Jungwoo, finding love letters and getting to kiss his boyfriend into a giggling mess, made everything worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! xx


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